Bottomless tea, very good dumplings and absolutely no need for fake prawns.
There has been a vegan yum cha-shaped hole in Sydney since Bodhi served its final dumpling back in 2022.
Sure, we could head over the bridge for Green Gourmet, but we are big fans of keeping things local. So when word reached us that Yulli’s was doing weekend yum cha, I was in immediately.
And really, Yulli’s feels like a pretty natural place for it. Everything is vegan, the tea is bottomless and the place is still packed with cool kids and their parents – though not necessarily at the same time.
Yulli’s has a feeling. It is difficult to explain without sounding slightly sentimental about a restaurant, but it is a Yulli’s thing.
Eighteen years on, the record-lined walls and Crown Street buzz are still firmly intact, even as the menu has moved through different cuisines and ideas.
Its weekend yum cha is no different.
For $42 per person, you get a set progression of plant-based dishes and bottomless green or lemongrass tea. The lemongrass tea, for the record, is excellent. Yummo. Individual plates can also be ordered à la carte from $13.50, although the set menu saves you from making difficult decisions before midday.
Things kick off with garlic chive gao, soft steamed BBQ buns and turnip spring rolls, before moving into kale and truffle gyoza and Chinese cabbage and ginger dumplings.
Then there are the edamame and coconut moneybags, a Yulli’s classic served with sweet chilli. These have been hanging around for good reason.
One of the best things about Yulli’s approach to vegan food is that it does not feel particularly interested in recreating meat for the sake of it. The menu leans heavily into vegetables, mushrooms, tofu and big Southeast Asian flavours instead.
Salt and pepper king brown mushrooms arrive crisp and properly seasoned, while gai lan comes covered in a rich mushroom oyster sauce. The braised eggplant, topped with crispy tofu strips, is soft, savoury and the kind of dish that quietly disappears while everyone is still discussing the dumplings.
Steamed mapo tofu adds a little more weight to proceedings, and there are extra dishes available if the table is feeling ambitious. Salted radish cheong fun comes with warm ginger soy, while Brussels sprouts are tossed through fermented black bean sauce.
Then, because Yulli’s clearly understands that yum cha should become slightly chaotic towards the end, there are crispy wontons covered in cinnamon and icing sugar.
It sounds odd. It works.
Mango tapioca pudding finishes things off, ideally alongside another pot of lemongrass tea and the realisation that you have been sitting there eating dumplings for considerably longer than planned.
The entire menu is vegan, with extensive gluten-free adjustments available too. There are also Yulli’s Brews beers and vegan-friendly wines on hand, should bottomless tea feel a little too responsible for the weekend.
Yulli’s yum cha runs Saturdays and Sundays from 9am to midday in Surry Hills, and from 11.30am to 3pm in Byron Bay.
Bookings are a very good idea.
Mostly, though, this feels like Yulli’s doing what Yulli’s does best. Taking something familiar, leaning into it properly and making it feel completely at home in its own slightly colourful world.
And keeping the tea coming.
Head to Yulli’s for more info.
